Note: You can click on the above links to go directly to the article; or you can scroll through the entire newsletter. You can also print the entire newsletter.

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All meetings for the club year will start at 7:30 PM at the Dunn Loring Fire Station. The doors will open at 6:45 PM for a "meet and greet".

Remember to lock your car and place valuables out of sight. Please remember to take seats immediately when the meeting starts and to silence cell phones.

Please check the website and Fotofax for the club’s policy on weather closings. Check WTOP www.wtop.com or Fairfax County School systems web site for closings. You can also sign up for emails or cell phone alerts: http://www.fcps.edu/news/emerg.shtml

President's Message

March 2012 - Spring has Sprung

It is time to start thinking of Spring. We have created a new gallery to celebrate Spring 2012. Images must be taken between the first day of Spring, March 20th and Easter Sunday, April 8th. There is a limit of one image per person. More details are coming soon.

Joe Atchison Award for Outstanding Service

I am now accepting nominations for NVPS’ most distinguished service award – the Joe Atchison Award for Outstanding Service. This award is given very rarely and is not an annual award as very few members could even qualify for it (12 years of active service is a requirement). Please read the below very carefully and if you feel you would like to nominate a potential candidate, please follow the listed criteria (2-5) and send to me no later than March 31st, 2011. It is not enough to just send me a name, you must make a case for your nomination by letting me know why this member is deserving of this award. If I receive any nominations, I will form a committee to evaluate the candidate

Background
This award was established in 1998 after the death of Dr. Joe Atchison. Joe had been a member of NVPS for many years and made significant contributions to the club. On learning of Joe’s death, many club members asked that NVPS find a way to honor Joe’s memory. A committee was chartered to study the matter and ultimately recommended that a "service award to go to an individual who has performed outstanding service to the club over a period of many years." The Board set a very high bar for this award. At its inception, it was strongly believed that only one club member, Dave Carter met the requirements. Joe Atchison was honored by naming the award after him and Dave Carter was honored as the Joe Atchison Award’s first recipient. This decision was met with universal approval and is considered the highest award offered by NVPS. Other recipients have been Erwin Siegel, Greg Gregory, Ed Funk, Joe Miller, Andy Klein, Sherwin Kaplan, and Bill Prosser.

The process for making this award is as follows:

Length of service. Service to include at least 12 years of active service. This service must include positions critical to the fulfillment of the NVPS mission. (President, Vice President - Competition, Vice President - Programs, Workshop and Field Trip chairs are particularly critical because of their educational nature)

To what extent has this service changed the club for the better? Describe.

Is there tangible evidence of the nominee's impact? Describe.

To what extent has the nominee served as a role model/mentor for service by others? Describe.

To what extent has the nominee inspired others to serve NVPS? Who has been encouraged to volunteer their services? Describe this "encouragement."

Nominating process:

Nomination is to be made in writing to the current president and must describe in detail how each of the above criteria has been met.

A three person committee appointed by the president and chaired by a former Atchison Award winner will review, investigate, and make the final determination.

The award consists of a camera mounted on a block of finished wood with four brass plates for engraving the awardee name and year. It is kept by the awardee for one year and returned to the club for the next winner. A permanent award is also made for the recipient to retain. It has been in the form of a finished wood base (plaque-like) with a brass plate for engraving and a crystal vase that sits on the base.

Bob
r.friedman.1 "at" alumni.nyu.edu

Monthly Program

March 6th - Program Night: Cameron Davidson

Twenty Years in the Air

Nearly 10,000 years ago, rising sea levels filled a meteor impact crater to form the Chesapeake Bay. Cameron Davidson has spent the last 20 years creating a portrait of the Chesapeake from the air, revealing man's impact on the land and the water. The view from this privileged vantage point yields an abstract beauty that is seldom seen, from the seven bends of the Shenandoah River to the important marshlands and islands of the watershed, spanning six states, from Virginia to New York.

"To call Cameron an aerial photographer is an injustice. His work is bold, colorful and always has a strong sense of design. Above all he also has immense passion..." Seth Resnick

Cameron Davidson is an aerial and location portrait photographer who shoots for a variety print publication, including Vanity Fair, National Geographic and Smithsonian. His work has been profiled in Communication Arts, Photo Design and Print Magazine. His awards include CA Photo Annual, Graphis Photo, Print Design Annual and the Pictures of the Year competition. He has published five books of photography.

"It defies imagination to ponder just how many hundreds of hours Cameron Davidson spent aloft...He takes us there with him, every hour of the day, every season, in every kind of beautiful light." David Burnette

Please join NVPS and Cameron Davidson on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, to experience his incredible journey of the past 20 years, creating "Chesapeake", and much more. A book sale and signing will follow the program. Cameron will also be joining us for dinner prior to the Program at 5:30 pm at Chili's.If you'd like to attend dinner with Cameron, please rsvp to Mary at: mary.m.o'neill" at "gsk.com or call/text: 703-216-9340.

Workshops, Education, and Training

March 13th - Workshop - Corey Hilz

Image Editing Concepts and Techniques

Processing our photos is an important step towards making our images look their best. In this workshop, Corey Hilz will demonstrate his workflow for making image adjustments. He will discuss how he evaluates a photo and decides what adjustments to make. These adjustments will range from global to local and Corey will explain how he chooses which parts of an image to target with selective adjustments.

This workshop will not focus on how to use a particular image editing application. Instead the emphasis will be placed on assessing what adjustments will benefit the image. It is important to focus on the changes that will bring out the best in the subject. What you can do to highlight, emphasize, or otherwise promote the subject or key elements in a scene? This isn't always achieved making changes to the subject itself. It may be changes to the background or secondary elements that help put attention on the subject.

You will be able to take the concepts discussed in the workshop and apply them using the tools available in your image editing application. Feel free to bring your laptop, after the presentation there will be time for you to practice with your own photos and Corey will be available to answer questions.

Corey Hilz is a professional photographer specializing in nature and travel photography. He is a published author and his work is seen in magazines, books and calendars, as well as in art galleries. Corey finds the diversity in nature and cultures around the world offer boundless opportunities for new images. He approaches his subjects with an artistic eye, looking for a fresh perspective.

Corey has a passion for helping others improve their photography by sharing his knowledge through group and private instruction. He leads workshops to locations in the United States and abroad, plus offers photo classes and software training in the Washington DC area. Corey is recognized as a Lensbaby Guru, and authored the first book dedicated to Lensbabies, titled Lensbaby: Bending Your Perspective. His most recent books focus on digital workflow with Photoshop and Aperture. Find out more on Corey's website: http://coreyhilz.com/

Competition

March 20th - Competition - Judge Mary Ann Setton

Tom Burden and Melanie Marts, co-VP's of Competition, are pleased to host Mary Ann Setton as our guest judge. There is no theme for this month. Please upload your digital images by the deadline, as per the current instructions on the club website. Prints should be signed in by 7:15, so our judge can preview them. You must be a paid member to compete. You are invited to join Mary Ann for dinner at The Olive Garden. She has thoughtfully provided the following bio:

Mary Ann is both a past VP for Competitions and Past President of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society (NVPS). She is a 1995 graduate of the Washington School of Photography and has augmented that training with many photography and Adobe Photoshop courses, including the famed Freeman Patterson's Photography and Visual Design Workshop in 2007. She worked as a professional photographer and videographer from 1997 to 2009 and for several years ran a portrait studio in her home. Experienced as a judge and critique leader, Mary Ann completed Joe Miller's Seminar on Judging in December 2006

Her images have won numerous awards in the Northern Virginia Photographic Society, ribbons from the Vienna Photography Shows where she won "Best In Show" in 2001, and several images were juried into the Art League of Alexandria's monthly exhibits at The Torpedo Factory, where she also won a prestigious Equal Award in 2002 and maintained a bin for two years. She was named NVPS "Photographer of the Year" in both 2005 and 2006 in the category of Enhanced Prints and won two "Print of the Year" Awards in 2000 and two again in the 2005. Her image "All Truckered Out" won first place in the AAA World 2009 photo contest. In 2011 her prints were juried into both Joe Miller's Abstract Art Exhibit and The Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Council Spring Photography Show.

Mary Ann and her husband Dick live in the northern Shenandoah Valley area where she has organized and leads a Photography Club in her active adult community, frequently teaching and encouraging novice photographers. While she continues to do some professional work in photo restoration, portraits, and creating fine art prints, greeting and note cards, she spends the majority of her photographic time honing her craft by working on photographic art and trying to stay current with her favorite software, Photoshop.

Monochrome PrintsNone of the winners in this category
gave permission to use their
images in FotoFax this month

Clicking on any of the images above will display a larger version of the image.

Competition Images

The NVPS Website has a gallery of past winning images at http://nvps.org/gallery/v/competitions/.
If your image placed first, second, third
or received an honorable mention in a club competition, it is eligible for this gallery. This
is not done automatically; you must specifically provide consent for your
image to be included in the gallery.

Print Winners: send a digital version of your print, sized as if it were
for digital competition (smaller is ok, but not too small).

The Fotofax newsletter is usually finalized during the weekend
immediately following the monthly club competitions. If your image is a
first place winner and you send it in before the weekend after competition,
your image will be forwarded to the editor for inclusion in Fotofax.
If you have not provided permission before that deadline, your image will NOT
be included and another winning entry may be used for that category
in Fotofax.

Field Trips

Longwood Gardens Orchid Extravaganza

March 10th
Longwood is a feast for the senses in any season – it is one of the best horticultural exhibits on the East Coast. And, having gone there, some of our members can attest that the Orchid Extravaganza is an excellent time to visit. Longwood permits tripods from 9 am to noon. Admission is $18 (seniors: $15). To take advantage of tripod time, we will leave the Fire Hall parking lot at 6:30 am.

Highland County Maple Festival

March 17-18
The Highland County Maple Festival is one of Virginia's premier events, with festival activities taking place throughout the county. Spectacular mountain scenery, pastoral farms, arts and crafts, entertainment, food, and a chance to see traditional and modern "sugar camps" processing maple sap into sweet maple syrup and maple sugar (much better than the high-volume stuff produced by those Yankees up in Vermont). This is a full-day field trip -- the drive to Monterey, the central venue for Maple Festival events, is about 3.5 hours. Because of the time and distance involved, carpooling is recommended.
If you need help finding a ride, send an e-mail to field-trips" at "nvps.org

Note that the primary route is the simplest route, involves more interstate driving and takes slightly less time, but the alternate route is more scenic.
To meet up, we will rendezvous at 12:00 noon, at the courthouse in Monterey.

Forum

March 27th - Paul Simmons

“Bird Photography”

Paul has been a bird watcher all of his life and a photographer for just about as long. Three years ago, his passions merged when he purchased a long lens. He has been photographing birds, almost exclusively, ever since.

Last year, at the February Members Gallery, Paul presented a slide show titled “Song Birds” that was followed with a lengthy question and answer session. Because of the interest expressed by the members, he decided to conduct this Forum on Bird Photography.

Paul will begin his presentation by discussing how he plans bird-photography outings and his favorite locations. The greater part of his presentation will cover photographic technique and equipment. He encourages the active participation of the audience and is looking forward to answering lots of questions.

Early on in his photographic endeavors, Paul used Nikon film cameras and shot almost anything that was, “foolish enough to get in front of my lens.” After a few years photographing like this, he purchased a 4x5 view camera and shot B&W landscapes exclusively. For guidance, he studied Ansel Adams' six books on photography. Today, Paul uses Canon cameras and shoots with an 800mm lens and a 300mm lens which he used to collect the images for this Forum.

Paul gives many thanks to NVPS members for twelve years of friendship and for the only photographic training he received.

Members Gallery

March 27th - Prints - Will Haubert

Will Haubert figures that just about everyone knows his basic story - that he retired from his government job on September 2, 2008 and joined NVPS 3 hours later. His transition consisted of riding Metro home and a quick dinner. He has been pushing his shutter release almost non-stop ever since.

Will began his photographic journey by taking pictures while hiking just about anywhere west of the Front Range. You probably know his landscapes - a Blue Sunrise in New Mexico, the red hues of the Wave. And a few local images - the Jefferson Columns. But something happened to Will about a year or so ago. During a wonderful trip to China led by Yulan Guo and Corey Hilz, Will started taking pictures of people. Well, mostly pretty women.

And it didn't stop with wheels down at Dulles. It seems that Will could not call himself a photographer unless he felt comfortable taking pictures of people. So for the past year, that is pretty much all he has done. His wife was skeptical when he set up a photoshoot with a model during a hiking trip he made to Utah a year ago. It was the highlight of Will's trip and changed his photography dramatically. Now he shoots all models all the time.

For a man who spent a lifetime being a generalist, his single-minded focus on models is surprising, if not shocking. Ask why and you'll get a reply like this: "I truly love women and love to portray their beauty. Beauty is soul-deep and that's what I seek in my images. If I do it right, a woman's inner beauty will reveal itself to the lens - and to the viewer's eye." He hopes that when you view his images at Member's Gallery, that's what catches your eye ...

March 27th - Digital - Ursy Potter

I have wanted to go to Africa for a long time. But I never wanted to go as a tourist or on a fancy animal safari. I learned of an opportunity to go to Ghana, in West Africa, last summer and stay with the Ewe tribe, living with a Kente weaver and working with a traditional potter in a village about an hour's distance by various buses, taxis and Trotros. So off I went by myself having no idea of what to expect about anything. I discovered the Ghanese people are intelligent, beautiful and oh so friendly. The children are polite and mannerly.

I was the only white person for the almost one month stay but I had no mirror and so I just felt like one of the gang. Bobbo, the Kente weaver and my host, has eleven sons and seven daughters and is thrilled by all of them. The youngest is perhaps twelve years old and every one of them is intelligent, speaks English and is accomplished. Bobbo is 74 years old and has had several wives.

I was expected to wear a long skirt and a head covering as is the style for women.
Being on the Equator I was expecting Ghana to be beastly hot. Instead, I left the beastly hot Washington, DC weather behind and found it comfortable in Ghana by comparison.

Not having worked in clay for ten years I wondered how it would go. Since their techinique is so different from mine that didn't matter. I was a dilettante no matter what. The women with whom I worked spoke only Ewe and my English was of no help but they were so patient and kind it was all fun using hand gestures. The kids are adorable. Ghanese are strict with children so they learn at an early age to toe the line, although as soon as I got my camera out the kids popped up in front.

Notice: Workshop and
contest announcements of events not sponsored by or affiliated with NVPS are
provided as a courtesy to Members. Individuals should review the detailed
contest rules and conditions to determine what impact entering images has on
rights and ownership of the submitted images. Review the descriptions of
workshop to whether participation in a workshop would actually meet personal
learning goals. NVPS attempts to screen events for legitimacy and quality,
however NVPS does not recommend these events and cannot assume responsibility
for their ultimate quality. We recommend due diligence and encourage you to
share your experience with other club members.

Members' Resources:

Do you need help with a photography problem, but don’t know who to ask? The Members’ Resource Program is here for you. Have you ever been asked “How do you do that?” If so, then consider sharing your knowledge with other club members.

The Members’ Resource area of the club web site http://nvps.org/main/members_resource/ contains a growing set of presentations and ‘how to’ documents created by club members. For example, it includes Jay Heisel's excellent Forum presentation from the January meeting on Social Photography, with his detailed explanations. It also contains the Members’ Resource List, which provides the names and email addresses of club members who have volunteered to help club members looking for help on specific technology and technique topics.

If you have a photography question, check the Resource List for the name of a club member who can help you with it. If nobody has indicated they have expertise in the topic, then contact me and we’ll find somebody. If you have some expertise that you’d like to share, let me know what topics you are able to address.

If you’d like to share your knowledge through a presentation, club website document or Fotofax article, and just need some help getting it off the ground, let me know and I can help with writing, editing, or graphics. Jay Heiser, Members’ Resource Program Coordinator, jay “at” heiserhollow.net .

Members News:

Our members routinely receive photo awards and recognition and have images in shows. As FotoFax only comes out monthly, the best place to look for current events is on the website at :

Congratulations to member NVPS Member John W. Wiles II, who is on deployment in Afghanistan. He recently received an iPad for his placement in a commercial Photo Contest! Check the link above for more details.

Exhibition Opportunities

Second Annual Joseph Miller Abstracts Exhibit - Last Chance!

First Call for entries for the Second Annual Joseph Miller Abstracts Exhibit to be held at the Joseph Miller Center for the Photographic Arts, 4811 Catharpin Road, Gainesville, VA 20155.

-- Abstracts entries due at JM Center not later than Wednesday, February 29, 2012. Data on how to send entries (CD and/or email) is listed on the website, via the link below.

MFA invites all artists residing in the United State, Puerto Rico and Canada to enter its open-juried photography exhibition. Any original work created in any form of photography, following exhibition guidelines, will be considered by the juror. The selected works will be on exhibit in the MFA’s Circle Gallery.
Only original works of art created in any form of photography will be considered by the juror.

Exhibition Dates: May 25 - June 17, 2012
Submission Deadline: March 14, 2012
Notification Deadline: Accepted artists and artwork will be posted on the MFA website and artists notified via email by April 12, 2012
Juror: Margaret Adams, assistant professor at Corcoran College of Art + Design and Maryland Institute College of ArtDownload printable prospectus (pdf)

Blue Ridge Mountain Photographers

The Blue Ridge Mountain Photographers invite members to enter their 2012 National Juried Nature and Fine Art Photography Exhibit. Last year more than 150 photographs were selected for display in The Art Center, an historic courthouse in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Their judge this year will be Professor Paul Dunlap of North Georgia College and State University. A total of $2000 in prize money will be awarded.

Submissions must be entered by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, April 18, 2012. An entry fee of $5.00 per photograph for adult entrants, and $3.00 per photograph for youth entrants under 18 years of age will be collected at the time of submission. All entry fees are to be paid to the Friends of Claude Moore Park.

Events

On-Line Learning Resources

Our club offers incredible resources via our meetings, workshops and member resource links. If you are a real learning junkie, there are a variety of free on-line learning resources offered by others.

There are many free podcasts available with tutorials or lectures. Within iTunes, go to the iTunes store, select the Podcast tab and then search on your preferred topic. Several universities and high schools offer great lectures on the history of photography, great photographers and specific techniques such as lighting.

End of Year Banquet

It is never too early to plan for a wonderful evening. There will be your fellow photographers, eye-popping award winning photographs from every competition, the end-of-year competition winners and awards, an excellent buffet, a chance to thank those who made this year happen, and some prizes. And, the board has voted to support this event by reducing the cost per guest to $5 less than last year – just $35. This includes all but the cash bar.

The end of year banquet will be June 8th starting at 6 PM at the same location as last year:

Best Western Tyson’s Westpark
8401 Westpark Drive, Mclean, Virginia, 22102-3602
Phone: 703/734-2800
Located at the corner of Route 7 and Westpark Drive

Please make your reservation by giving Tom Brett a check or cash for you and any guests you wish to bring.

Wayne Wolfersberger (NVPS member and past President) will
be teaching many classes for his thirteenth year with Fairfax County’s Adult
and Community Education - ACE. Anyone can sign up (Fairfax residency not
required). Courses are designed for beginners, intermediate and advanced
skills in photography which includes Outdoor (Nature) classes, flower and
garden classes, as well as well as classroom table top shooting for
composition and creativity. Several classes include weekend field trips. See http://www.fcps.edu/is/ace/index.shtml and then go
to Art – studio art for details or http://www.waynewolfersberger.com/

Roy Sewall

Roy was the November 2011 judge and presented a
program in November 2010.

He offers one-on-one coaching for novice
and intermediate photographers, tailored to an
individual's specific needs. Representative topics
are: how to operate a digital SLR, equipment selection, photo critique in a
private setting, on-computer demonstration of photo improvements, and field
technique. See his recently updated website for more details and information about upcoming workshops or to sign up for his newsletter:

Responding to a request for proposals, Nikhil Bahl has offered three workshops to NVPS members at a reduced rate. Nikhil gave an NVPS Forum program in April 2011. The first of the three workshops is:

MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY BOOTCAMP, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA

Dates and Schedule: April 21-22, 2012
The workshop will start with a presentation at 12pm on Saturday, April 21, followed by a critique session. We will go into the gardens for an evening field session. On Sunday, April 22 Nikhil will start with a field session at sunrise. In the afternoon, Nikhil will provide post-processing techniques and tips followed by an evening field session.

Tuition: $190 -- Regular fee would be $225. A $35 discount will be offered to all NVPS members. Participants are responsible for travel, hotel, food and other incidentals are not included as part of the workshop fee.

Join two well-known professional photographers on their
exciting and educational photo tours. For 2012 they are offering trips to
Alaska's Denali National Park and Katmai National Park, Yellowstone
National Parks, Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley in Arizona, the Great
Smoky Mountains, and Acadia National Park in Maine. All tours include extensive
photographic opportunities in the field, as well as personal one-on-one
assistance and classroom instruction. Mollie and Mary gave a NVPS Programs in
October 2010. See their website for more information on their workshops and tours.

Fall workshops, classes, and lectures are posted at archiphotoworkshops.com. Please
take a look and hopefully, you will find something of interest, including
Canon camera classes. Josh is an NVPS member and most recently presented a
workshop in March 2010 and was our September 2011 Competition judge.

Mike was our November Program Speaker on the topic of Macro Photography. He is conducting a
Macro Boot Camp in our area on May 18th, 19th, 20th, 2012. The cost is $149. It will be held at the Hampton Inn & Suites, at
22700 Holiday Park Drive in
Sterling (Near Dulles/Washington Airport.)

Responding to a NVPS request for proposals, Bill and Linda Lane are holding a workshop near Marlinton, West Virginia from June 20-23 and are offering a $100 discount to NVPS members. They plan to shoot along the Greenbrier River Trail, the scenic highway, the glades, waterfalls, barns, all around town and surrounding towns. Indeed, they will take advantage of every 'photo op' they can find! http://www.lanephotoworkshops.com/workshops_2012/12summerwv.htm

Their base price of $775 (NVPS discounted price $675) includes most meals but not lodging; they have reserved a block of rooms for attendees. Bill and Linda will give NVPS members until April 1st to sign up before they allow non-members to register.
For more information, see the workshop link above or contact:

The Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs (NVACC) is an informal entity started in 1997 by Joseph Miller with the assistance of Dave Carter and Ed Funk. Its purpose is to promote communication and cooperation among area camera clubs. NVACC is made up of Member Clubs and Associated Member Clubs.

Did you miss a great speaker at NVPS? She just might be speaking at one of the other (lesser) clubs in the area. NVACC publishes a monthly Calendar of Virginia Member Club Events that can be found at http://www.nvacc.org/Calendars.html.

NVACC has published a Field Trips Guide Book for Photographers, which provides information about nearby areas that camera clubs might wish to visit. See their booklets at: http://www.nvacc.org/Booklets.html .

Editor's Note

Penn Camera has been a topic of discussion around the coffee pot at recent meetings. It was a shocker - the sudden announcement of their financial problems, the immediate closing of five of their eight stores, and then the distress sales at the three remaining stores. It was a joy to buy some items at 70% off the list price, but sad to see the faces of the people who worked there.

Like many members of NVPS, I bought a lot of photo gear at Penn over the past decade. Most of the staff were highly professional - experts whose opinions I came to trust. (I can also say the same about Ace Photo.) Yes, there were a few times I ran into someone who was rude or seemed misinformed, but those were rare exceptions. In collapsing from eight stores to three, many employees --good or bad, lost their jobs. It is a sad sign of our times.

Calumet Photo acquired Penn and the three remaining stores will continue operating under the new management. I have shopped in Calumet stores in Boston and Chicago and enjoyed visiting those stores. The surviving Penn stores will have some of the same staff and according to the website, will also offer expanded products and services. Hopefully, they will change enough to avoid the pitfalls that caused Penn's failure.

We can usually find an on-line vendor with a lower price for any product. They will not have the same overhead costs; they may be located in lower cost countries. But sometimes, we want to hold the merchandise, see how it feels in our hands, and ask questions of someone we can see face to face. That personal service touch comes with a markup in expense to the vendor. Smart shoppers look for the "best deal." Salesmen dread the shoppers who ask lots of questions, then buy the product somewhere else where they can save a few dollars. If customers are unwilling to pay a small premium for that service, it goes away.

Some people argue this type of customer service will inevitably die. It represents an old school approach to commerce. We are told that blogs, discussion groups, wikis, etc. are the future source of product information. They say we will use the on-line communities to find the products that fit our needs, and then use a price comparison tool to purchase at the lowest price. It will not matter whether it comes from Burke, Hong Kong or Sao Paulo. Voila! Thomas Friedman's Flat World has arrived.

NVPS has always been a place where photography enthusiasts share information. We help each other take better photos, we share tips about what gear works best, and tell each other about interesting places to use that gear and knowledge. For those of us who just might not yet be living in this brave new world where interactions are predominately virtual, we can still network the old-fashioned way on Tuesday evenings and for at least a little while longer, even shop in a place where we can swap photo stories while handling the merchandise.

Copyright 2012 by the Northern Virginia Photographic Society and its Contributors. The contents of this FotoFax are copyrighted. No material herein may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the Editor or the material’s specific contributor. All photographs are copyrighted by the photographers who have granted permission for NVPS to use their image in FotoFax and/or on the NVPS website, but otherwise retain all rights to their image.